Condensed Matter > Soft Condensed Matter

Abstract: We report on the creation of a two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate of
cesium atoms in a gravito-optical surface trap. The condensate is produced a
few micrometer above a dielectric surface on an evanescent-wave atom mirror.
After evaporative cooling by all-optical means, expansion measurements for the
tightly confined vertical motion show energies well below the vibrational
energy quantum. The presence of a condensate is observed in two independent
ways by a magnetically induced collapse at negative scattering length and by
measurements of the horizontal expansion.